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Monday, April 2, 2012

Lessons from an a/c repairman

Our air conditioner broke this weekend--for the second time this year, by the way--which may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but we've been getting into the 90s down here in southern AZ. And I'm eight months pregnant (which kind of makes me a walking furnace.) Luckily, it broke in March this time and not in August like last time. That was miserable.

The service guy was able to come today to take a look at it, thank heavens. He pulled the thermostat away from the wall and eventually ended up climbing into the attic. He came down just ten minutes later, holding a blown fuse in his hand.

"Has anyone been hitting the thermostat or turning it off and on repeatedly?" he asked.

Almost on cue, my six year old started laughing* from where he was sitting at the base of the ladder.
He's got Down Syndrome and loves to laugh--in addition to hitting things and pushing buttons repeatedly. Culprit caught. So that was a quick $100 and a nice lecture from the service guy to "make sure to watch my children."

So, as a summary, things I've learned this year from the a/c guy:

1) I should watch my children
2) Repeatedly hitting/pushing buttons on the thermostat will blow a fuse so your a/c unit doesn't work
3) I should look into becoming an a/c repair person ($100 for 30 minutes of labor!)
4) Also, if you don't change your filters often enough, your circuit board will melt and make your a/c not work (that was my adventure in August)
5) I am willing to pay whatever they ask me without batting an eye, just to ensure I will have a/c for when it gets hot next week. I probably would have paid him double, which is why my haggle-em-down husband hates when he can't be home for these things.
6) Amazingly enough, this whole experience didn't even faze me. I am chill because I know...
7) that my son is worth all of the $ that we've had to pay (and will have to pay.) We love him and are so glad to have him, no matter what.

*As a side note, my 6yo most likely didn't understand what was going on or that his hitting the thermostat did any damage. He just really likes to laugh and sometimes has great comedic timing. Like at church when someone is telling a touching/tragic story and for some reason something strikes him as funny and he laughs his contagious, uncontrollable belly laugh for minutes while everyone else is crying. And the a/c guy didn't actually teach me #7--I've known that one his whole life.